The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1887-09-21

assistant in the only clothing store IN the
place. There ] was rejoined by my
hereditary luck WASH born girl,
you'll remember, and for the heinous
offense of charging only S65 for S14
suit of clothes was srImmarily elected
from the clothing business Just as was
beginning to believe TINT had at last
placed my feet firmly upon the ladder Of
success.
Remaining IN jackson only long.
enough to pack my limited wardrobe In.
an old fashioned carpetbag. i took a train
ON the Southern railroad of Mississippi for
Yicksbrg. AT place called Boyina,
eight miles from Vicksburg, the railroad
bridge had been destroyed during the
war, and passengers were transferred
across the Big Black river by stage cross
ing that dirty little bayou, neither big
nor black, by means of a pontoon bridge.
"A new railroad bridge was in course of
construction, and. as felt like stretching
my legs and seeing the country, / walked
across that in preference to the pontoon
bridge. Arriving at about the middle of
the bridge noticed plank projecting
about ten feet from the outer stringpiece,
ats inner end being pushed some five or
six feet under that stick of timber. I
walked out TO Che end OF IL al40 sat down.,
my legs swinging idly over the water,
and my gaze directed to every point
except the one / should have guarded.
AS sat down I noticed four negro
laborers staggering under the weight
of a piece of timber which they were
carrying to its place in the structure, but
bestowed no further attention upon them
until / heard them Immediately In my
rear. I was about to look over my
stick of timber square on the end of the
plank was sitting on. and my little car
petbag and shot about ten feet into the
air, parted company as each described
curve and began our descent and disap-
peared beneath the muddy waters of the
Big Black. / think / struck the water
first; anyway, I'm sure got out first,
since no authenticated account of the
rescue of the bag has ever come to my
notice. AS reached the bank, covered
| from head to foot with mud, slime and
the sweepings of the pontoon bridge above,
those four darkies greeted me with a
chorus of laughter as indicative of enjoy
ment as any sound ever heard, and
started for the train on the Vicksburg
side of the bridge on a dead run, my
speed being accelerated more by desire to
escape the dnrSicS' mirth than to catch
catch by about ten car lengths. Why
that place was called Bovina the Lord
only knows, unless, perhaps, because the
man who named it thought, as did,
that it was a bully place to get away
from.
''There was now nothing left for me to
do but to walk to Vicksburg or wait six
hours for another train, and / wasn't
long in making up my mind to walk.
The weather was warm, and by the time
l had covered the eight miles my clothes
were dry, but heavens, how dirtyl The
investment of 81 brought into requisi-
ton the services of stout negro boy,
and by dint of much rubbing, brushing,
and securing was made to look quite
presentaDle. I then started for the
wharf boat of the Atlantic and lIissis-
sippi Steamboat company at the foot of
Clay street to ascertain the time of de-
parture of the first boat for ST. Louis,
and was told that the steamer William
r. Carter would arrive from New Or
leans at about O'Clock in the evening,
and leave about an hour later. 1t was
then about A o'clock in the afternoon,
and looked about for some way of kill
| ing time until the Carter should arrive.
1 went into the Prentiss house bar, got
drink and a cigar, and, counting my
money, found that 1 had just $33. / sat
down to enjor my cigar when the idea
struck me that it wouldn't be bad
scheme to play what money had above
my steamboat fare against the bank.
Reflection ard recollection of the adverse
result of n1ost of my former enterprises
of similar character told me that it was
a particularly bad scheme, however,
and for the time abandoned the pro-
ject. 1 took walk up the hill and
down again and tried in every way I
could think of to rid myself of the idea
of risking what little money had, but
| something seemed to tell me that ]
would win, and finally yielded to a.
power 1 couldn't resist and asked the
barkceper of the hotel where could find
game. He directed me to one a short
distance from the hotel, and in three bets
had reduced my capital to an amount
| Just sufficient to pay my passage, with
out meals, to st. Louis. / watched the
remainder of the deal without playing
until there was a single turn left in the
box, the fearful something that had
lured me into the place meanwhile urg-
] ing me to resume, and yielded again.
/ / put $5 on the turn and lost. was
then desperate, and in my endeavor to
| quit even on my fare went broke. There
| didn't seem to be much of a nrospect of
my getting out of town, or of staying in
it either, for that matter; but, as you
may suppose, was pretty well used to
hard luck and didn't cry over spilled
milk. / went back to thu hotel. which
| was Esituated on the levee, and in dae
/ time saw the William R. Carter swing
away from the wharf boat and make her
way up the river without me. Having
| nothing else to do walked down to the
| wharf boat and sat looking into the dark
current of the Mississippi, speculating as
to how 1 should be able to stem that cur
! rent.
'.About 10 O'Clock a little boat called
! the Evening Star came up the river,
/ bound for Memphis, and landed. went
i ON board and found to my inexpressible
/ delight an old army acquaintance, mem-
Der of a fy-by might minstrel party that
had been doing the small river towns.
To him explained my plight and was
0verjoyed when he agreed to lend me
money enough to pay my fare to Mem
phis on the doubtful security of my word.
half an hour later we started and as we
rounded Milhken's Bend we discovered a
sheet of flame ahead that to ,iver men
/ was too well known sign that vessel
was burning, There was great clang-
ing of bells, increased vehemence In the
putting of the exhaust pipes, and deter
mined vigor In the song of the colored
II